The Big 12 tournament quarterfinals will be closest thing you see to second weekend games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament during Championship Week.
The eight teams playing in Kansas City on Thursday are firmly in the field of 68, and all of them are capable of winning multiple games in the Big Dance.
The Kansas Jayhawks were the class of the conference in the regular season, and they start their Big 12 tournament title defense against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Kansas and the Iowa State Cyclones own eight of the last nine Big 12 tournament victories.